How to customize your Lock Screen after updating to iOS 16
 

Happy New Year, <<First Name>>,
   
During the holiday break, I had a few people complain to me (remember I am not Apple 😂) that they don't like the way their iPhone lock screen looks after upgrading to iOS 16—especially the clock font style.

I totally get it, the Lock Screen had major updates in iOS 16, and the default look is less than desirable.

Luckily, Apple has provided you with tools to customize your device's Lock Screen appearance and functionality. 

This sounds great Dave, but how do you do that?

Well, in today's learning session, you'll learn how to use those tools to customize and personalize the lock screen on your devices.

So, grab a beverage of choice, maybe a snack, your iPhone, and settle in for your newsletter learning session with Dave.

Let's do this... 👩🏽‍🎓👨🏽‍🎓
 

Apple's redesigned Lock Screen

In iOS 16 you can personalize your Lock Screen with your favorite photos, add filters and widgets, and even change the font of the time.

Widgets and Live Activities make it easy to stay up to date on information from your favorite apps and receive updates in real-time.

Notifications now appear at the bottom of the Lock Screen and can be viewed in different ways. You can also create more than one Lock Screen design and switch between them.

🤔 Please know: The iOS 16 Lock Screen customization has not yet been ported over to iPadOS 16. If you are wondering when can you change the clock font on your iPad, you will probably have to wait for a few months. It might also be possible that Apple will wait to introduce it in iPadOS 17. 

Steps to personalizing your iPhone Lock Screen

1. Running iOS 16, long-press on your Lock Screen.
   • If using an old wallpaper, you’ll need to create a new one to do a custom Lock Screen.
      
2. Tap the blue icon in the bottom right corner and the Lock Screen wallpaper gallery appears.
   
   
    
3. Tap one of the wallpaper options to select it as your Lock Screen.
   • Options: People, Photo, Photo Shuffle, Emoji, Weather, Astronomy, Color
   • For some wallpaper choices, you can swipe left or right to try different color filters, patterns, and fonts that complement each other.
     
     
      
4. Tap the TIME box to customize the font and color.
   
   
    
5. Tap the DATE box to add a widget up top.
   • Choices include Calendar, Clock, Fitness, Reminders, Stock, and Weather.
      
6. Tap Add, then do one of the following:
   • Choose whether to use the wallpaper on both the Lock Screen and Home Screen: Tap Set as Wallpaper Pair.
      
   • Make further changes to the Home Screen: Tap Customize Home Screen. Tap a color to change the wallpaper color, tap the Photo On Rectangle button to use a custom photo, or select Blur to blur the wallpaper so the apps stand out.

How to add widgets to your Lock Screen

You can add widgets to your Lock Screen to get information at a glance—for example, the temperature, battery level, or upcoming calendar events.

1. Long-press on your Lock Screen until the Customize button appears at the bottom of the screen, then tap Customize.
    
2. Tap the box below the time to add widgets to your Lock Screen.
   • You can add four single block widgets, two larger block widgets, or choose one single block widget and two smaller block widgets. You can also opt to use no widgets if you prefer a cleaner look.
     
     
      
3. When finished adding widgets, tap Done in the upper right.
    
4. Then, tap the Lock Screen option you wish to activate.

If you choose a photo for your Lock Screen, you can reposition the photo, change the photo style, and more.

• Reposition your photo: To reposition your selected image, pinch open to zoom in on it, drag the image with two fingers to move it, then pinch closed to zoom out.

• Change the photo style: Swipe left or right to try different photo styles with complementary color filters and fonts.

• Create a multilayered effect: If you have a photo that supports layering—like an image with people, pets, or the sky—tap  at the bottom right, then choose Depth Effect.
  
  
   

  Note: The multilayered effect is available on iPhone XR or later. Layering may not be available if the subject is too high, too low, or obscures too much of the clock. Currently, iOS 16 Lock Screen Depth Effect only works on images in .JPG format. 🤷🏽

• Set the shuffle frequency: If you choose Photo Shuffle, you can preview the photos by tapping , and set the shuffle frequency by tapping , then selecting an option below Shuffle Frequency.

That's all for this lesson, but I'll cover more Lock Screen personalization in the next lesson.

Did you find this lesson useful? 🧑‍🎓👨🏽‍🎓

Did you like this lesson and find it useful? If so, let me know by replying to this email or posting a comment on my Facebook page. I'd love to hear from you!
 

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